Traditionally, pressure sensors have been used to determine the shock location both in wind tunnel flows and on aircraft flow surfaces. The use of pressure sensors requires drilling the flow surface with multiple small holes (to form a static port) and installing subsurface tubing and plumbing. For aircraft installations, the breach of the surface by drilling can weaken the structure. Additionally, some locations, such as along the inner surface of a jet engine inlet, have only minimal room for plumbing. Inlet shock study and control require good spatial resolution for shock sensing which cannot be achieved using current pressure sensor system. On both external airflow surfaces, wings, empennage, etc, and on internal flow surfaces, such as jet engine inlets, it is often necessary to detect other flow conditions, in addition to shock location, in order to properly control the flow surface. These flow conditions include boundary layer conditions such as turbulence, flow separation, and flow reattachment locations. What is needed is a sensor system which can be located on an aerodynamic surface without breaching the structural integrity of the surface, which requires a minimum of under surface plumbing, which provides a high degree of spatial resolution and a high dynamic response, and at the same time can detect boundary layer conditions and shock location.